


Mini Michael

by Hashtagmavin



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: M/M, Tiny people AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-04
Updated: 2013-12-04
Packaged: 2018-01-03 12:27:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1070465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hashtagmavin/pseuds/Hashtagmavin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(Tiny Michael AU) Gavin’s been having a pest problem in his house, but when he finds out just what the pest is, he isn’t so eager to get rid of it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mini Michael

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted at Hashtagmavin.tumblr.com  
> This is loosely based on this movie I used to watch all the time when I was a kid called “The Borrowers.”

Over the years that Gavin’s lived in this house, he’s noticed weird things.

Like he’ll leave the house for a few hours at a time and when he comes back his television will be turned on. He doesn’t remember leaving it on, in fact he specifically remembers turning it off.

Other times he’ll find things fallen to the floor from high shelves as though they’ve been thrown down. Or food in his cupboards have been left open.

Not very often, maybe once every few weeks or so, but it’s still enough to annoy him.

He’s tried changing his locks, assuming at first that somebody is breaking in. But nothing is ever really stolen anyways. It just freaks him out to think that somebody besides himself could have access to his house, especially when he’s sleeping or defenseless.

But new locks don’t help.

His friend Geoff suggests that maybe he has rats and it makes him want to smack himself on the forehead for not thinking of it sooner. It would explain the crumbs of food he finds in odd places and items being haphazardly thrown to the ground. According to every movies he’s watched starring them, rats seem to be the assholes of the rodent family.

So he goes out and buys rat traps. The big bulky ones that remind him of a stupid video he’s done with Dan once, where they filmed themselves almost losing a finger by playing with one.

But whenever he checks them they aren’t set off.

Either he’s more of an idiot than he’s thought, or these are the smartest rats in the world.

As time progresses he just gets more and more annoyed. He’s tried everything but the problem isn’t getting any better. It’s like somebody’s just purposely messing with him.

He figures that he’s just being stubborn and will eventually cave in and hire an exterminator. At least then he’ll get some peace of mind.

If that doesn’t work he’s going to have to try his luck with one of those whack-job “ghost removal” services.

But he never reaches the point of hiring The Ghostbusters because he ends up catching the perpetrator himself.

While fixing himself something to eat in the kitchen he sees something move out of the corner of his eye. For a split second he figures that it’s nothing, but the paranoia comes back and he looks over just in time to catch a glimpse of something moving.

He almost wants to cry out in excitement that he’s finally caught it, but that might alert it. It sounds ridiculous that he’s treating a rat so seriously, but it’s been annoying him for so long now that letting it get away would be even more ridiculous.

Thinking quickly, he grabs the empty box he’d just gotten his food out of, figuring that he’ll trap it first and then figure out what it is. Just catching it is his main concern right now. He tries to quietly run over to the area he  _sort of_  saw it and then waits. Scanning the kitchen counter top with his eyes for any type of movement.

After a few minutes of nothing, he’s about to give up, assume that he was too slow, and try to get it next time. But just when he’s about to leave he sees something peek out from behind the tea bag jar.

It’s only for a brief moment, but it’s enough to let Gavin know that something is behind it. He swipes it out of the way and without even checking to confirm that the pest is there, he slams down the box as quickly as he can.

He sits there in silence for a few moments. At this point it’s like Schrodinger’s cat. Either he’s caught the thing or he hasn’t, but since the box isn’t transparent, he has no way of knowing if it’s under there or not.

Gavin takes a deep breath, knowing that he has to be smart about this. He decides against using his hand because what if it really  _is_  a rat and it tries to bite him? So instead he grabs the old magazine that’s been dragging around on his kitchen counter for who knows how long. He thinks it might have belonged to Geoff or Griffon and they left it here at one point and he’s just never gotten rid of it. But that’s probably a good thing now because he doesn’t have to risk injury to find out whatever the hell has been running around his house.

He slides the box across the counter, closer to the edge where he holds out the magazine. Once it slides onto the surface, he wants to beam at his ingeniousness.

But there’s no reason to celebrate yet. As far as he knows he might have caught empty air.

In order to test this, he shakes the silly little homemade trap. Gently at first but then harsher as he becomes more desperate to get some type of a reaction.

“ _Ow_!” a voice calls out.

Gavin’s eyes widen.

That sounded like a  _person_. A male person to be specific. A very tiny man that is very annoyed at being trapped in a dark area and shaken about. But that just seems silly. There aren’t people that small. Even if there were, their wouldn’t be one living in his house. That just doesn’t make any sense.

Gavin hasn’t had anything remotely alcoholic today, but there is no way he imagined that voice. It was as clear as day and it even slightly echoed a bit due to the empty box surrounding it.

Instead of taking it outside and releasing the ‘maybe-a-tiny-man’ there, Gavin acts on impulse and instead dumps him out onto the counter in front of him.

The boy tumbles out of the darkness and lands ungracefully onto the top of his kitchen counter. He lets out an ‘oof’ sound once he lands, and his facial expression indicates that he’s in pain. Gavin would feel guilty if he wasn’t in such shock.

As soon as the tiny person sees how close he is, and that he’s obviously in plain sight, he starts to scramble away.

Gavin’s eyes widen and he desperately looks around for something to trap him in. He spots the tall glass cup that he was going to use earlier to pour himself a drink. He ended up deciding against drinking tonight since he and his friend Geoff were supposed to go to a bar together tomorrow.

He grabs the cup and quickly places it over the little man, trapping him within the glass so he’s unable to escape.

Gavin stares down at the small creature in shock.

He’s banging on the glass with his fists, as though it will somehow get him free. Gavin has his hand firmly held on the top, so there’s no way it can be knocked over.

His clothing consists of material that had been sloppily sewn together. It consists of fabrics that were obviously taken from other places. Like, he’s wearing something that kind of resembles a vest that is made of soft looking brown fur, which Gavin is willing to bet has come from some kind of stuffed animal. He has a sewing needle through the back of his shirt, as though it’s a knife that he’s ready to whip out in case he needs to attack.

But overall his clothes look a little rugged and torn, as though he’s been wearing them for a while.

It’s hard to tell since he’s confined within the glass, but he looks to be roughly three and a half to four inches tall. Other than that he looks like a completely normal person, just incredibly tiny. Gavin leans his face in closer to the cup so that he can get a better look.

He was able to see his curly red hair from a distance, but he wasn’t able to pick out the freckles that are scattered along his cheeks.

Once he notices that Gavin’s face is now almost touching the cup, he stops banging on the glass with his fists and instead glares at him. Raising his eyebrows in confusion and alarm, Gavin has no idea how to process this situation. He’s never imagined meeting a tiny little person before, especially within his own home.

"Let me out, asshole!" a voice rings out when the tiny man opens his mouth. His voice isn’t high pitched and squeaky like you’d imagine it to be. He still sounded like a normal person, the only difference was the slight echo in his voice due to the cup.

Gavin’s eyes widen even more, “You can talk!?”

"Of course I can, dickweed." he crosses his arms, and continues to glare, "Now let me the fuck out of here!"

Gavin raises an eyebrow at his language, “You’ve got quite a mouth on you too.”

The tiny man repeats his words, mocking them with a high pitched British accent. He continues to glare, obviously annoyed at being caught and captured.

Gavin doesn’t glare back, he’s more interested in him than annoyed. He’s never been one to respond to anger with more anger. Carefree optimism is more his style. Besides, this guy is pretty amusing when he’s yelling and cursing him out.

He lets a soft chuckle escape his lips, which only succeeds in further annoying the man.

He sighs and lets his arms fall back down to his sides, “Fine. Get it over with.”

The smiles wipes off of Gavin’s face when he sees the slightly defeated expression. “What do you mean?”

"Aren’t you gonna kill me?"

“ _Kill_  you!?” his eyes widen again at the thought.

"Yeah, squish me with a rolled up newspaper or something?"

"No," he shakes his head softly, confused at the idea, "I’m actually relieved that it hasn’t been some kind of rat or other pest that’s been running amok in my house."

The guy’s shoulder relax slightly but it’s obvious that he’s still on-guard, “You don’t consider me to be a pest?”

"Should I?"

"I don’t know," he shrugs, "Your kind usually do."

Gavin smirks, which causes the boy to raise an eyebrow, “I don’t think you’re a pest.”

The guy gives him a suspicious look, as though he expects Gavin’s words all to be a elaborate ruse.

"You don’t?"

"Nope, why would I? You don’t look like one. No fur, tail, or sharp teeth, right?" he doesn’t wait for a response, "I’m Gavin. Do you have a name?"

"Michael." he says hesitantly, raising his two hands to press them against the glass.

"You don’t have to be scared, I’m not going to hurt you."

Michael glares at him again, “I’m not scared.”

Gavin can’t help but let his curiosity get the better of him. You’d react the same way if you somehow caught a small version of a human in your own kitchen.

"What are you?"

Michael shrugs nonchalantly, and Gavin isn’t sure if it’s because he doesn’t know the answer, doesn’t want to tell, or because the information just isn’t important.

"Are there more people like you?" he feels almost rude for asking so many questions, but Michael doesn’t seem bothered by it.

"Yeah, there are plenty of us. Living in the walls of your kinds homes and stuff." he shrugs again, this information is normal for him.

He wouldn’t expect Gavin to really know about it since they spend a lot of their lives stealing food and hiding in fear of being found out. Maybe interacting with Gavin isn’t such a good idea, but it’s not like he really has a choice.

"You mean there are others? You’re not the only one living here?"

"Usually large families will live in a house together, but I’m on my own. I’ve lived here by myself for years."

"Years!?" Gavin yells, "And I haven’t noticed you after all this time?"

"I guess not. You  _are_  kind of an idiot.”

"I am not!"

"Dude, I’ve been living in your walls. I know almost everything about you."

Gavin wants to blush at that comment, something about it sounds so personal and invasive. But it’s not like he could blame Michael for it. He tends to talk out loud and to himself whenever he’s home alone, so it’s no surprise that he’s been overheard a few times.

"Well, I hardly see how that’s fair since I know nothing about you."

He raises an eyebrow, “You  _want_  to know shit about me?”

"I’ve just found out that there’s a cute mini person living in my walls. Why wouldn’t I want to get to know him?"

"You mean you aren’t going to throw me out or call an exterminator or something?"

Gavin still can’t fully comprehend that idea. He already figures that he must already be crazy enough to accept the fact that a small little person has been secretly living in his house. What would be the harm in letting Michael stay?

"Of course not! I already told you that I don’t think that you’re a pest! You’re just like me, aren’t you? Except very  _very_  tiny,” he grins as he says the last words, while Michael glares at him. It’s amusing that somebody so angry and irritable could be so small and cute.

"I don’t know…" Michael sounds hesitant, "We aren’t really supposed to interact with people… like,  _ever_.”

"Who told you that?"

"I don’t know," he shrugs, "It’s just a rule that we’re taught as kids. People are dangerous."

"Well," Gavin grins, " _I’m_  certainly not dangerous. I’d be a pretty bad roommate if I tried to kill you, huh?”

"Roommate?"

"Of course! You can live here as long as you want. It’s like having a little pocket sized friend."

"Friend?"

Gavin stops grinning and raises an eyebrow, “Do you not know what those words mean?”

Michael scoffs and crosses his arms, “Of course I know what they mean. I’m just… hesitant to trust you.”

"Well unless you want to move to a new house, which I’m guessing would take a while, you’re going to have to."

Although he hates to admit it, Gavin is right. Travelling to a new house would take a long time, but it would take even longer to find one where he’d have it as good as Gavin’s. Here he’s on his own with no other people to bother him. He knows the layout perfectly and where the best hiding places are. The tiny nooks and crannies to hide things and how to navigate out in the open without being easily spotted. Those last things probably don’t matter much now. If Gavin knows that he’s here and is giving him full permission to do whatever he wants, doesn’t that make this house even better?

But for some unexplained reason he feels safer right now than he should. Even safer than he’s ever felt while hidden away in the walls or behind large furniture. Like Gavin will be there to help him or keep away any danger. One of the major downsides to living in a house without a family is that there’s nobody to help you if something bad happens. Placing your trust in a human has always been a big no-no because _they’re_ usually the danger themselves. But Gavin’s always seemed pretty harmless to him, which is one of the main reasons why he still lives here.

But it’ll be nice to not live in constant fear of being discovered like he just was. Gavin actually seems eager to be friends. Since he knows about Michael’s existence and is okay with him staying here, this could really work out in his favor. Gavin will probably outright give him food or warmth if he needs it so that he won’t have to secretly try to steal something (which is a lot of hard work when you’re that small.)

Besides, he’s kind of grown fond the the guy. When Gavin first moved in he was pretty pissed. A nice old woman with bad eyesight used to live here, and she’d constantly be forgetting to put on her glasses. Running around was a lot easier because she could hardly even see him as it was.

She was quiet, kind, and always left food out by accident. The only company she had was when her grandchildren would come by for cookies and hugs. Gavin turned out to be a lot different than her. He was always talking out loud to himself, playing video games at the highest volume, and snoring loudly as he slept.

But it surprisingly didn’t take Michael very long to get used to that. He’d end up watching Gavin play video games for hours. The only thing the old woman used to have on her television screen was old game shows.

"I’m gonna let you out of the cup now," Gavin says slowly, "Is that okay?"

Michael thinks for a few moments before nodding. So far the cup has been the only thing both protecting and trapping him. Gavin’s been nice so far, but trusting him goes against everything he’s been raised to believe.

"Are you going to run away when I do?"

"No," he shakes his head, still unsure of why he’s agreeing to this, "Why?"

Gavin shrugs, “I don’t want you to hide from me anymore.”

He’s lived so long in this house without any company other than watching Gavin do stupid things. He can’t really count that as a friendship since it would be completely one sided and they’ve technically only just met.

It’s odd that now that he does know that Michael exists, he doesn’t want to kill or get rid of him. Gavin wants him to stay around and actually make himself known. It’s weirdly comforting in a way.

The glass slowly rises from around him and he watches it with concern. He could easily run. Just run and hide within the familiar walls of his home and never be at risk of death because he’s decided to place his trust in a big person.

Gavin keeps his eyes on Michael as he places the cup in the sink nearby.

"Are you okay?" he finally asks after a couple moments of silence, wanting to make sure that Michael is comfortable without the safety of the glass.

"Yeah, obviously."

Gavin grins with satisfaction, happy that his new friend has decided to trust him. He holds out his hand palm-up in front of Michael.

"Climb on."

"What?"

"Climb on," he repeats, still smiling widely.

Michael’s still extremely suspicious but he figures if Gavin was going to harm him, he would have done it already.

When he steps onto Gavin’s palm he almost wants to snicker at how weird it feels. He expected it to be hard and solid but his hand is fleshy, soft, and warm. It’s oddly comforting in a way, especially when Gavin is watching with amusement. Like he’s putting all of his trust into one giant idiotic person.

When Gavin raises his hand closer to his face Michael stumbles and falls backwards. He gasps, fearing for his life that he’ll fall to the floor but instead lands on Gavin’s hand.

Gavin laughs out loud, “You’re so cute!”

"Don’t call me cute," Michael demands, glaring up at him. Gavin lifts his hands even more so that they’re eye level to one another.

"But it’s true! I just want to squish your little cheeks!"

"Stop it!" he yells but his smile gives him away.

To prove it Gavin brings him closer and presses a soft little kiss onto his hair. It covers the entire top of his head and leaves his hair slightly damp. If he weren’t already sitting down the force would have knocked him off of his feet. Michael tries to swat him away but it only makes Gavin grin wider.

Michael continues to glare at him but it’s easy to detect the playfulness in it. It makes him wonder why he ever thought making contact with Gavin would be a bad idea.

"Want to play some video games?" Gavin suggests.

"You suck at video games."

He figures that being playfully mean to this guy won’t do much harm. He’s been living in Gavin’s walls long enough to know the kind of person he is. His friend Geoff always comes over and they’ll play video games while making fun of each other like that. Michael’s always sort of wished that he could have that kind of friendship with somebody else. Whether it be Gavin or otherwise.

"I happen to be great at video games!" Gavin argues, but he’s trying his hardest to hold back a grin. This is just too much fun. Learning that the thing that’s been annoying you for so long is actually a tiny little person that you can make friends with is exciting.

"I’ve watched you play over a million times," he rolls his eyes, "I’ve seen your gamer score."

"Shut it," he chuckles, "Have you even played a video game before?"

"Yeah, sometimes when you leave the house I’ll sneak onto your Xbox."

Gavin scrunches his eyebrows together, “No wonder my television is always turned on when I come home. How do you use the controller?”

"Lots of reaching for buttons."

He smirks, “I’d like to see that.”

"Well then let’s go!" Michael beams, excited at the prospect of being able to actually play video games without the fear of Gavin returning at anytime. He dramatically points to the door, "To the living room, Gavin the Giant!"

He laughs as he begins making his way to the room, “If I’m Gavin the Giant, can I call you Michael the Mouse?”

"Only if you want to wake up with a pair of scissors and clumps of your hair next to your head."

"What about Mini Michael?"

"No."

"How about-"

"You should just stop while you still can." he states. Gavin just laughs and after a few moments Michael joins in with him.

It looked like the start of a really odd friendship.

But those are always the best kind.


End file.
